Santander

Bond investors will have a chance to give a further indication of their appetite for Argentine risk as Pampa Energía looks to follow in YPF’s steps and continue to reactivate the primary markets from the country.

The City of London Corporation, via its endowment fund The City’s Cash, has launched first US private placements (PP), roadshowing the prospective notes this week and next. The funds will be partly used to finance the consolidation of the Billingsgate, Smithfield and Spitalfields wholesale food markets at a new site in Dagenham, Essex.

Gatwick, London's second airport, offered a £300m no-grow 30 year bond into a quieter corporate bond market on Thursday, while Engie, the French power and gas group, issued a €500m non-call 5.75 year hybrid. This slowing of issuance from the frenetic pace earlier in the week was welcomed by bankers concerned investors might have been overtaxed.

Voltalia, the French renewable power producer, has launched a €376m rights issue to finance increased capacity, and has won a new investor in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Investment firms BlackRock and KKR have signed a $3.275bn loan to support a pipeline partnership with the United Arab Emirate’s state-owned oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), according to bankers. The agreement sparked interest among market participants, who expect an increase in public-private partnerships in the Middle East energy industry, some of which are likely to be financed through traditional capital markets. Mariam Meskin reports.

Europe's investment grade corporate bond market began the week with a hefty pack of new bond issues, as issuers were spurred on to bring deals by last week's rally and the favourable performance of past prints.

Bankia sold its first senior non-preferred bond this week after the market rallied following a dovish speech from Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank. The issuance attracted a hefty book of €3.7bn, more than seven times its pre-determined size of €500m.

Just two months after a dovish US Federal Reserve lured América Móvil to the dollar bond market for the first time in eight years, the Mexican telecoms giant was again able to make the most of benevolent central bank talk on Wednesday as it jumped on a rates rally in Europe for its first euro trade since 2016.

The rally set off European Central Bank president Mario Draghi's assertion on Tuesday that further quantitative easing was possible, if not probable, had reached a level by Wednesday that astonished bankers. Three investment grade companies took advantage that day with benchmark bond issues, while one brought a tap.

Santander Consumer Finance breezed through the market with a new five year senior bond on Wednesday, as FIG bankers predicted that there would be a pause for breath in the primary market after a frantic few weeks for new issuance.

Peru’s return to dollar bond markets after four years on Thursday saw it clinch its lowest ever yield and price flat to or even inside its better rated neighbour Chile. Yet so sought after is Peru’s hard currency paper that the government is having a tough time persuading bondholders to let go.

Toronto Dominion Bank has become only the second borrower from outside of the UK to sell a Sonia-linked covered bond, having quickly met enough orders on Monday to launch a £1bn offering in the sterling market.